Issue date: 2/25/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Lisa Verhey-Budding Photo illustrations by Jeremy Harmsen

Media Credit: Lisa Verhey-Budding

Media Credit: Lisa Verhey-Budding DMACC criminal justice faculty member, Cathy Ockenfels, and Trooper Dough Cutts, go over some the day events at the cyber conference.

    "It's dangerous in 'Cyberville,'" Banks said.

    Peter Banks, 17 year veteran of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, was a presenter at DMACC's Cyber Crime Awareness Conference last Saturday.

    Banks said that "Cyberville," as he calls it is a place where anyone with malintent has access to 30 million sites where children are exploited.

    Banks said that there are 600,000 registered sex offenders in America. He said that the center receives about 2000 calls a week on suspicions of the usage of child pornography, the luring of children, and child exploitation.

    " You can try your best to keep your children safe, but even when you are doing the best job possible, it sometimes is a 'crapshoot,'" Banks said.

    According to Banks, one out of four girls and one out of 10 boys become victims of molesters. "There has never, ever been anyone cured of being a molester. It is obsessive behavior to manipulate the innocent," Banks said.

    As far as trying to identify a predator/pedophile prior to an offense, "you couldn't pick one out if your life depended on it," Banks said.

    According to DMACC's Electronic Crime Institute Director, Bryan Burkhardt, more than 70 people attended the conference on Saturday. "I felt the turn-out was terrific for the first year of the conference," Burkhardt said.

    Burkhardt said he received positive comments about the speakers and topics discussed. He said the whole point of the conference was, just as the name states, to raise awareness of cyber crime, how it is committed and how to protect yourself and your family from it.

    Hopefully the conference shed some light on the variety of crimes committed on the Internet such as child exploitation, identity theft, fraud, cyber stalking and other social networking dangers, Burkhardt said.

    Burkhardt said that the ECI would like to host a public conference of this magnitude annually while delivering other training to the public throughout the year as well.

    Another presenter at the ECI Cyber Awareness Conference was Bryan Kelly, a computer crime specialist at the National White Collar Crime Center.

    This a non-profit organization that works in conjunction with the FBI in computer forensics and undercover online investigation.

    Kelly's presentation of "Dangers of Social Networking" included the "do's and don'ts" of Internet sharing. According to Kelly, you can safely give your email address, first name and general location. However, do NOT give your full name, full address, details about favorite places and hangouts, or specifics about hobbies and interests.

    "Locating a victim is easy these days with Yellow Pages. Com, Mapquest, etc.," Kelly said. Chat sites can be manipulated and what you share online is out there for anyone and everyone to see.

    "If it's on the Internet, it's NOT PRIVATE!" He said.

    Trooper Doug Cutts of the Iowa State Patrol, Safety Education, visits the classrooms of schools in eight counties in Iowa. One of the issues Cutts spoke about at the conference was that predators are on the same websites as your kids. These predators can be male, female, of any age and any profession. Cutts said.

    A predator can talk to several kids at one time, trying to get just one on the hook. Kids are looking for attention and if they don't get it at home, there is always someone online who will give them attention, Cutts said.

    According to Cutts, the old "stranger danger" concept comes into play when educating children about Internet dangers.

    "Your parents taught you as a little child not to talk to strangers at the mall, in the parking lot, or at the play ground…but yet you will freely talk to them on the Internet, there is no difference in the danger," Cutts said.

    One in five kids are sexually solicited online, he said.

    "The computer is not a baby sitter," Cutts said. Computers should never be in a child's bedroom, but rather in a common area of the house so parents can monitor its usage, he said.

    "There are a lot of bad people out there, online, that want to hurt your kids," Cutts said.

    The final speaker of the conference was Michael J. Ferjak, Senior Criminal Investigator with the Iowa Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General, Iowa ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) Task Force.

    Ferjak said that the Internet allows for private conversations with minors and private access to pornography that is often used in crimes against children. Kids will let their guard down in chat rooms, and open up to someone they think cares about them.

    "It's like going into that dark confessional where you don't have to look anyone in the face, it's easier to talk to someone. Kids find out the truth about who someone is when it's too late," Ferjak said.

    "If there is anything we can accomplish with this conference, I hope it will be to generate interest in what is going on with kids who are online," Ferjak said.

    Ferjak emphasized that people should not be afraid to contact local law enforcement when suspecting the occurrence of an Internet crime. "The worst that could happen is that it could be nothing, but what if it is something? Parents are the first line of defense when protecting a child," Ferjak said.

    Ferjak said that if you suspect that there is anything inappropriate going on with your child, first contact your local police. For further action you can contact the NCEMC at www.cybertipline.com, or call 1-800-THELOST.

    Ferjak said that he hopes that those who attended the conference will take home what they have learned and share it with family members and friends.

    "All of us can help to inform others and do something to stop these crimes against children," Ferjak said.

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